Benjamin Walker Scodelario-Davis Bio
Benjamin Walker Scodelario-Davis (born June 21, 1982) is an American actor and stand-up comedian whose career spans stage, film, and television. He first drew wide notice for his role as Andrew Jackson in the Broadway musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and went on to headline the 2012 film Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. His performances on stage and screen have earned critical acclaim, including a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his work in the 2019 revival of All My Sons. He has also appeared in television series such as Jessica Jones and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
Early Life and Background
Walker was born in Cartersville, Georgia, the younger of two boys. His mother, Jeannine (née Walker), worked as a music teacher, and his father, Greg Davis, owned a movie rental store and later worked in financial services. Growing up in a household shaped by music and film helped spark his early interest in performance, and he has said that the family business gave him a deep familiarity with cinema from a young age.
For his stage name, Walker adopted his mother’s maiden name because a Benjamin Davis was already registered with the Screen Actors Guild. He attended Cartersville High School in his hometown and later studied at the Interlochen Arts Academy near Traverse City, Michigan, where he received focused training in the performing arts. These early schools gave him a strong foundation in acting and helped shape his path toward a professional career.
Path to Acting
Walker continued his training at the Juilliard School in New York City, one of the most respected conservatories in the country. He graduated from the Juilliard Actor Training Program in 2004, finishing the same year he began his professional career. His time at Juilliard exposed him to classical training, voice work, and stagecraft, all of which became central to his later work on Broadway.
His first major Broadway appearance came in 2007, when he played Bertram Cates in a revival of Inherit the Wind. The production opened at the Lyceum Theatre and ran for ten weeks to a full house, earning four Tony Award nominations, including Best Revival. Later that year, he appeared as the Chevalier Danceny in the Roundabout Theatre Company’s Les Liaisons Dangereuses, a production that received six Tony nominations and was praised as a sharp battle of the sexes by Broadway World.
Benjamin Walker Scodelario-Davis Career
Early Career (2004–2009)
Walker’s early screen work included the short film All Saint’s Day in 2007, which won the narrative short category at a Savannah College of Art and Design competition. In 2009, he appeared in the independent films Coach and The War Boys, building a résumé outside the stage. In December 2007, he also starred as Andrew Jackson in the world premiere of the musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson at the Center Theatre Group’s Kirk Douglas Theatre in Los Angeles, a performance that would later define his career.
He returned to the role for a four-week workshop at the Public Theater in March 2009, and then reprised it again at the Public in March 2010 before the show moved to Broadway. The musical earned strong reviews and developed a devoted following. Other early stage credits include The Arrangements at the Atlantic Theatre Company, a Lincoln Center Theater workshop of Spring Awakening, Lady Windermere’s Fan, and Romeo and Juliet.
Breakthrough (2010–2012)
Walker reprised his role as Andrew Jackson in Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre on Broadway in 2010, and the show ran until January 2, 2011. The role cemented his reputation as a powerful stage presence. In 2010, he was also cast as Hank McCoy, also known as Beast, in X-Men: First Class, but he dropped out of the role to continue with the Broadway musical, a decision that reflected his commitment to the stage.
In January 2011, it was announced that Walker would star as Abraham Lincoln in the film adaptation of Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter. To prepare, he read several biographies of Lincoln and drew on his classical training to shape a more complex version of the historical figure. The film was released in June 2012 and became his most widely seen screen role. He was also cast as Archangel Michael in an adaptation of Paradise Lost, though the project was cancelled in 2012.
From 2012 to 2013, Walker portrayed Brick in a revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, adding another classic American role to his stage résumé. In 2013, he starred as Kevin Connolly in the film Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight. These projects showed his range across genres, from historical drama to sports biopic.
Notable Works and Milestones
Walker’s signature work remains Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, which he performed in multiple versions between 2007 and 2011 and which brought him his first major critical recognition. His title role in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter gave him a major film presence in 2012. He later earned a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance in the 2019 Broadway revival of All My Sons, marking a significant career milestone.
Benjamin Walker Scodelario-Davis Award Nominations
Walker received a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance as Chris Keller in the 2019 Broadway revival of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons. He has also been part of two Tony-nominated Broadway productions, including Inherit the Wind, which earned four Tony nominations including Best Revival, and Les Liaisons Dangereuses, which received six Tony nominations.
Benjamin Walker Scodelario-Davis Awards Won
Verified major individual award wins are not documented in the available source material. The productions he appeared in, such as Inherit the Wind and Les Liaisons Dangereuses, were nominated for Tony Awards, but Walker’s own award wins could not be confirmed from the supplied facts and are therefore omitted from this section.
Benjamin Walker Scodelario-Davis Family
Walker was born to Jeannine (née Walker), a music teacher, and Greg Davis, a former movie rental store owner who later worked in financial services. He has an older brother. He uses his mother’s maiden name, Walker, as his stage surname because another performer named Benjamin Davis was already registered with the Screen Actors Guild at the time he joined.
Personal Life
Walker became engaged to actress Mamie Gummer in 2009, and they married in 2011. The couple lived in Park Slope, Brooklyn, before announcing an amicable separation in March 2013, with a divorce finalized that year. He began dating his co-star, the British actress Kaya Scodelario, in April 2014, and they became engaged on December 28, 2014. They married in late 2015 and both adopted the surname Scodelario-Davis. The couple had a son in November 2016 and a daughter in December 2021. In February 2024, the couple announced their separation.